Protesting the Koran Burning that Wasn’t

Several thousand uninformed supporters of the Iranian regime took to the streets today to demonstrate against Koran burnings that never took place.

The event highlighted an important fact lost in the Western enthusiasm for Iran’s democratic movement: no matter how cosmopolitan some segments of Iranian society are becoming, ultimately religion plays a huge role in the lives of many. For the time being, religiosity is still winning over modernity, or at least it seems to have more committed and vociferous supporters.

Standing sandwiched amid thousands of the faithful today, I wasn’t worried about fanatics attacking me for being American. I was much more concerned that the devoted might cause a stampede, crushing anyone that get between them and the effigies of Terry Jones and old favorite Salman Rushdie; the devils of the day they were encouraged to help destroy.

While there is no defending book burning of any sort, the violent response by several Islamic states, and the blind acceptance by large numbers of citizens in those countries is particularly disheartening. It’s as though it doesn’t matter that the burnings didn’t take place; the idea itself has provided more than enough reason to go on the offensive.

For all the talk that the Koran burning was a spiritual and not a political issue, Iran’s leaders can’t seem let go of old habits, and the typical chants of “Death to America” and “Death to Israel” were the preferred slogans today, as they have been for the past 31 years.